"You have--already?" he cried.
"Of course. My mind has been made up for more than a week. I told it to
Aunt Fanny last night."
"And she?"
"She almost died, that's all," said she unblushingly. "I was afraid to
cable the news to father. He might stop me if he knew it in time. A
letter was much smarter."
"You dear, dear little sacrifice," he cried tenderly. "I will give all
my life to make you happy."
"I am a soldier's daughter, and I can be a soldier's wife. I have tried
hard to give you up, Paul, but I couldn't. You are love's soldier, dear,
and it is a--a relief to surrender and have it over with."
They fell to discussing plans for the future. It all went smoothly and
airily until he asked her when he should go to Washington to claim her
as his wife. She gave him a startled, puzzled look.
"To Washington?" she murmured, turning very cold and weak. "You--you
won't have to go to Washington, dear; I'll stay here."
"My dear Beverly, I can afford the trip," he laughed. "I am not an
absolute pauper. Besides, it is right and just that your father should
give you to me. It is the custom of our land." She was nervous and
uncertain.
"But--but, Paul, there are many things to think of," she faltered.
"You mean that your father would not consent?"
"Well,--he--he might be unreasonable," she stammered. "And then there
are my brothers, Keith and Dan. They are foolishly interested in me.
Dan thinks no one is good enough for me. So does Keith. And father, too,
for that matter,--and mother. You see, it's not just as if you were a
grand and wealthy nobleman. They may not understand. We are southerners,
you know. Some of them have peculiar ideas about--"
"Don't distress yourself so much, dearest," he said with a
laugh. "Though I see your position clearly--and it is not an enviable
one."
"We can go to Washington just as soon as we are married," she
compromised. "Father has a great deal of influence over there. With his
help behind you you will soon be a power in the United--" but his hearty
laugh checked her eager plotting. "It's nothing to laugh at, Paul," she
said.
"I beg your pardon a thousand times. I was thinking of the
disappointment I must give you now. I cannot live in the United
States--never. My home is here. I am not born for the strife of your
land. They have soldiers enough and better than I. It is in the
turbulent east that we shall live--you and I." Tears came into her
eyes.